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Protests Erupt Over Death of Tiananmen Dissident

Protesters wear white dresses and cover eyes with white clothes to show their own expression to mourn for the death of Chinese labor activist Li Wangyang during a protest march in Hong Kong, Sunday, June 10, 2012.

EPA/Human Rights in China

A handout photo distributed by Human Rights in China on June 8, 2012 shows Chinese dissident Li Wangyang (R) with a friend in Dayang District Hospital in Shaoyang, Hunan Province, China, July 23, 2011. Both the photographer and the friend in the photo declined to be identified.

Days after a massive crowd filled Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to mourn those killed in the Tiananmen Square crackdown, thousands of demonstrators took the streets again to protest the death of a participant in 1989 demonstrations.

Activist Li Wangyang, who was imprisoned for two decades following his arrest in 1989, died in a Hunan hospital last week in what authorities described as a suicide.

Organizers called Mr. Li the victim of vengeful local authorities. The activist, who was sent to the hospital after being released from prison last year, had given an interview to a Hong Kong TV station days prior to his death in which he described the brutal treatment he received at the hands of Chinese authorities while imprisoned –treatment, friends say, that seriously impaired his sight and hearing.

Mr. Li’s body was discovered hanging from a window in the hospital by family members on June 6. Photos of his corpse, which circulated online, appeared to show his feet touching the ground. Those images, plus testimony from friends about Mr. Li’s mood prior to the discovery of his body, have prompted skepticism over whether the death was truly a suicide.

Huang Lihong, a fellow Hunan activist, said she last spoke with Mr. Li on June 3, three days before he died. “At that time, he was still very well,” Ms. Huang said in an interview Monday. “We chatted very pleasantly. He loved life and had a lot of plans, so I’m convinced he absolutely couldn’t have committed suicide.”

“Li Wangyang was extremely optimistic and strong, his disposition was unyielding,” said Zhang Shanguang, one of Mr. Li’s close friends, in an interview. “He had experienced much suffering and never thought of committing suicide.”

A number of Chinese activists on Twitter were quick to respond to Mr. Li’s death with declarations that they had no plans to commit suicide, with a Chinese hashtag #I-will-not-commit-suicide soon proliferating.

“It looks like I should get a notarized document ready for the lawyers,” wrote prominent Beijing-based dissident Hu Jia, saying that the document would read, “I, Hu Jia, no matter what the time or what I’m facing, because of anyone or anything, will not commit suicide.” Added Mr. Hu: “If you are a political prisoner or dissident or activist or citizen who is often illegally detained by the authorities, I recommend that you also prepare a similarly notarized statement. This country doesn’t lack for people who’ve been ‘suicided.’”

Hong Kong media reported that Mr. Li’s body was cremated on Saturday after undergoing an autopsy allegedly against the family’s wishes, a claim that could not be independently verified.

Authorities in the city of Shaoyang, where Mr. Li died, have declined comment on the specifics of the case, and say it is still being processed.

In Hong Kong on Sunday, throngs of protestors swelled downtown, some of them clothed entirely in white mourning clothes and wearing white blindfolds in a silent, funereal-style procession, bearing photographed images of the deceased, as well as white chrysanthemums. Protestors set fire to a Chinese flag outside Beijing’s liaison office, before a police officer used an extinguisher to douse the flames. Organizers said 25,000 participated in the rally; police estimated 5,400.

A representative of Hong Kong’s biggest pro-Beijing party, Ip Kwok-him, pledged this week to raise concerns about Mr. Li’s death with China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress. “Li was blind and deaf. How could he acquire the bandages and tie the noose?” says Mr. Ip, an NPC delegate. Mr. Ip added that there are other “unanswered questions” in the case, such as why the frail activist’s feet were resting on the floor when he was found and whether or not his family had been permitted to observe his autopsy.

Mr. Li’s sister, Li Wangling, and his brother-in-law are being are being held by security forces, according to activists. They said Mr. Li’s family would not likely have authorized an autopsy without having appointed a third party as a monitor.

A petition started by Chinese dissidents asking authorities to launch a credible investigation of the case had gathered nearly 5,000 signatures from people in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan by Monday afternoon.

Pressed by reporters this weekend, Hong Kong’s incoming leader, Leung Chun-ying—who is seen as having particularly close ties with Beijing and is heavily distrusted by pro-democracy activists—said repeatedly that he would not publicly comment on the matter. The controversy over Mr. Li’s death has rankled Hong Kongers at a particularly sensitive time, just ahead of the 15th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese control on July 1.

Last week, organizers said 180,000 people attended a candlelit vigil for Tiananmen Square victims in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, a record figure.